Above Your Head

I had starved to death.

While I was moving with my eyes open!

“I’m hungry.”

But I mumbled blankly as if I could not hear their words. My body was trembling uncontrollably on the floor. Gene and Ares continued talking.

Don’t think Life Energy is all that! Being able to use power proportionate to the amount of food you consume means there’s also a trade-off as well!

With Life Energy, there is no risk of mana going berserk or being subjected to tribulations like qi users, but a sufficient diet is essential. But still, I did not think it was possible to continue fighting until one actually starved to death. I think I underestimated you, captain-nim.

Let’s stop it here. You can’t save everyone anyways…

“I’m… Hungry.”

Genie and Ares stopped talking at my groaning words.

“I’m hungry…. I’m hungry! I’m hungry! I’m hungry!!!”

Cap, captain-nim?

The weak groans started to be mixed with temper. While Ares and Genie became flustered, I stood up from my seat.

“I’m thirsty.”

Dae-ha? What are you doing? Why are you acting like this?

“I’m thirsty! I’m thirsty! I’m thirsty, I’m thirsty, I’m thirsty, I’m thirsty, I’m thirsty!!!”

I let out an outburst. Even though I could not see my face, I could feel that my expression was distorted.

“What the hell is this? I’m starving! I’m thirsty!! This is annoying!”

I jumped up, stumbled, then sat back down.

It was then.

“Kuwaaang!”

With a loud roar, an ogre appeared in front of me. As soon as it spotted me, the creature began to charge without a second’s hesitation.

“What the hell is this? Get the hell away!”

Woong!

Brilliant Heaven Seven Light activated, and a blue hue surrounded my body. But the light soon disappeared.

“Heuk!”

I groaned and fell to the ground. Even though blue was a technique that utilized the person’s mana and did not directly draw power from the user’s body, it was still a technique of Life Energy. It would at least consume some physical resources. Therefore, hunger always accompanied the usage of Brilliant Heaven Seven Lights, and for my current self, hunger was pain.

Bang!

The ogre struck my head. Naturally, it didn’t actually succeed in striking my head. A silver energy magically appeared and blocked its fist.

“Kuwugh?”

I could hear the ogre’s confusion. It swung its hand in an attempt to scatter the misty silver light surrounding it, but the silver energy – the aura was able to manifest into an attribute at a quicker rate.

Chwang! Whoosh!

The misty light quickly formed into thousands of daggers and tore the ogre’s body apart. In the rain of blood, I shouted.

“It hurts! It hurts! My stomach hurts!!”

Even though it wasn’t an actual stomachache, the extreme hunger caused a similar pain.

He shouted.

“Ares!!”

Woooong--!

A large storm of magical power gathered.

“Come on! Ares!!”

He shouted once again.

H, Hey, Dae-ha?

“Come!!”

The storm of power grew even larger at his commanding words.

But that was all.

Um, I can’t go to that world.

It was impossible to exercise absolute command with words of power. I had no such authority. Only the president could order martial law, not some random old rich man.

“Eek…! What is this!? I’m hungry? Is there anything to eat?”

If you look nearby, there are fruits…

I floated into the air and began searching the forest following Genie’s guidance.

“Uwuugh!!”

Naturally, ogres found me and attacked.

Kwazak!

They were quickly surrounded by the aura of metal and easily torn apart. Having over 1,000 magical power meant that it could exert huge, violent power, even if the usage was inefficient.

“Heung… I’m hungry!”

I even stumbled as if I could not concentrate properly. Furthermore, I even felt a certain dampness flowing along my cheeks.

‘What is this?’

I was dumbfounded.

‘What the hell…? You’re crying?’

He found a fruit in the forest in my bewilderment. He became elated and took a bite of the fruit, but instantly spat it out and threw it on the floor with a crumpled expression.

“How fucking disgusting!”

…..

…..

‘…..’

All three of us were at a loss for words.

‘What is up with this guy?’

I was afraid of him. He was possessed by a madness that allowed him to reave over 100,000 lives with ease. He had pride and looked down on human beings as if they were bugs. Finally, he possessed an immense spiritual power that backed up his attitude.

But now, he was showing a new side while experiencing pain.

“Why are you so whiny?”

It was ridiculous that a self-proclaimed god was making a fuss about being a little hungry. If you wanted to despise human beings as insects, shouldn’t you be able to endure something like this?

Boom!

A silver giant as tall as a 10-story building fell in front of me. It was the only inorganic object that could freely travel between the Unique World and the outside world – God-rank Gigas, Ares.

What? Have you come to your senses?

Captain-nim? Are you all right?

Before I knew it, I was in the Unique World.

“What the hell? I can move now.”

I pulled myself out of bed. Strangely enough, I had control over my body in the Unique World. I was originally able to freely travel between my bodies in the real world and the Unique World, but it was rather bizarre that it worked when my current self in reality was intoxicated by divinity.

Are you drunk on the Divine Spirit again? But how did you guys become separate?

“I don’t know.”

I kept on moving despite my bewilderment.

Kwaazik!

Another ogre was torn to shreds and fell to the ground. I growled while trampling on the rotting body of the ogre.

“Damn it! Fuck! Fuck this shit! Get me out of here!!”

Rumble!!

The shout caused the dark forest to shake like a typhoon. My mouth became agape with bafflement.

“…Is he an idiot?”

Indeed, my concerns soon became reality.

“Argh!”

I collapsed with a scream. Regardless of the type of power, it was the body that supported it. Wasn’t it only natural that such a powerful shout would strain the body? Although it would be just a small amount of pain, he wasn’t even able to endure such a meager amount.

Shoong!

A boulder flew from afar with a fierce momentum. It was the work of Agile Runner, the boss of the hard difficulty of level 8. Originally, it had a habit of appearing out of the blue and using a hit-and-run tactic, but it was frightened by my display of power and was attempting a long-distance attack.

Naturally, the attack failed.

Crack!

The silver energy surrounding me took on the form of a lattice and solidified, receiving the flying rock like a net. Ares expressed his admiration.

Even though it’s all over the place, that is still amazing. How can he materialize things however he wants?

“I guess that’s not the way it’s supposed to be.”

When an aura trainee reached a certain level, they were separated into attribute-types and materialization-types. The former would utilize their attribute in the form of energy, while the latter would create objects that fit their attribute. In order for the aura user to become an attribute-type, a deep understanding of the attribute was required. If they possessed a flame-attribute, they would need to see many types of fire, create fire with their own power, feel the warmth, spend a long time in close proximity to fire, and even burn oneself with fire in severe cases.

Even if one was attempting to materialize a simple sword, they would require a certain degree of familiarity with the object. They would need to carry it with them for a long time and become accustomed to the blade as if it were an extension of their body. They would need to observe it, touch it, taste it, and be able to accurately portray the length, shape, weight, and characteristics of the sword with their eyes closed. Only by recognizing the sword into the depths of unconsciousness could one materialize their imagination in the real world.

But I was different.

I exuded the attribute of metal just by wielding spirit. Moreover, the attribute of metal was materialized into reality with nothing but a ray of thought.

“Kuwagh!”

Along with a loud roar, the runner came running with several daggers sticking out of its body. It wrapped its hands around my body and tried to crush me, but it was unsuccessful.

“Kuah…!”

Blood vessels sprang up as the runner squeezed with all its might, but my body withstood the pressure without much effort.

It was ridiculous, but my body had turned into metal.

It’s Adamantium. I think he must have referenced my body.

“Even so, it’s not like he turned a portion of his body into metal. He transformed the entire body into metal.”

It is an attribute-type ability that can be utilized by those who are extremely powerful. Aura users past the level of a compléter can even pass through the smallest holes by turning themselves into wind.

While we marveled at his usage of aura, the agile runner’s body was torn to shreds. The huge ogre screamed like a child before dying.

Thump!

The boss was finished, but I wasn’t fine either.

“Ah.”

My face was distorted after transforming back from metal, though not from the enemy’s blow.

“I’m hungry.”

He was crying.

“What is this… This is annoying… I don’t like it…

- Would you like to start the next battle?

The same question as always, but the answer was obvious.

“No!”

- The tests have been completed!

- Stage cleared. Compensation will be given according to the contribution.

- Your ranking is 866.

I had been one of the 10 final players remaining, but many powerful players ranked ahead of me. More text followed, because I had failed to achieve a complete clear.

- Your clear count is 1,041 times.

- Please indicate the 1,041 people who will have their Death Procession canceled.

- The targets will be listed as follows: Blood relatives, acquaintances, area of residence, region of origin.

- Please select the people to change their status.

Many people’s faces appeared in front of my eyes. Most faces were familiar, but I did not recognize some of them. I waved my hand.

“Put it away!”

- The Death Procession will be applied without any changes.

- Number of remaining Death Procession.

- 113,223,111.

- Initiated.

The stage ended just like that.

***

She walked slowly. Hawa crossed through a dense forest and passed by many things that trembled at her appearance. She finally came to face with it, or rather, her.

“Why?”

Hawa asked.

“Why did you give him the Unique World?”

Hawa was currently in the Spirit Realm, though not too deep.

- I was worried that he might die.

A mass of a human-sized light floated in front of Hawa. Even though the light did not possess much strength, Hawa acted extremely courteous.

Perhaps it was only natural, since the ball of light was the avatar of the Spirit God, one of the Absolute Gods and the ruler of the Spirit Realm. Unlike when Dae-ha visited the Spirit Realm, the Spirit God did not bring its main body to greet her.

“I do not understand. Even a great being like yourself feels uneasy about him?”

The encounter between the Spirit God and Dae-ha had been out of the blue, and it was something that should not have happened. Even though Hawa was an Untouchable, the arrogant Spirit God had only sent an avatar to greet her. But when Dae-ha entered the realm, the Spirit God had made a sudden appearance and granted Dae-ha a high-rank authority for no particular reason.

- I’m sure it’s the same for you.

“That is true, but…”

Transcendent beings were struck with a reflexive fear when they encountered Dae-ha.

Ah, this punk.

What do I do if he dies?

Dae-ha could not be allowed to die. Any being able to read or manipulate the flow of cause and effect was able to realize the fact in the form of intuition. That was why Hawa had promised him that she would at least protect his life when she first met him. The mission system granted him the capabilities of resurrection with his title. And the Spirit God bestowed a high-ranking authority of Unique World.

Dae-ha was unaware, but he would not die anymore even if he was cursed with a power that prohibited the power of resurrection or if he was attacked by a god-killing authority capable of killing even the strongest deities. Even if his body was destroyed in reality, another body would remain in the Unique World. Of course, in that case, he would be stuck in the Unique World forever.

But at least he would avoid death.

- You. You don’t know.

“…What do you mean?”

- If you don’t know, that’s fine.

Kuu---

The sudden dimensional shockwaves caused Hawa to become flustered.

“Wait a moment! What do you mean I don’t know…”

Pat!

In an instant, Hawa was dismissed from the Spirit World into the material world.

“You fucking boomer!”

She was indignant, but she did not dare enter the Spirit Realm once more. Even an untouchable would not dare invade the world of an Absolute God against their will.

“What the hell? What more is there to him?”

Hawa observed Dae-ha sitting on one side of Gwanghwamun Square. Her heart ached with worry when she saw how skinny he was. It seemed as if he had just finished the stage. When she saw him smiling bitterly as he stood up, her heart warmed up and her expression relaxed. She was still affected even though he had separated his divine spirit and could not wield the same authority as before.

“What the hell.”

Clench.

Hawa disappeared like a mirage while biting on her lips. As she disappeared, only the people of the city were left behind in the chaos.